Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Instant streaming of thousands of movies and TV episodes with Prime Video

A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates

Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists

Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important: Your Amazon Prime membership continues until cancelled. If you do not wish to be charged a membership fee plus any applicable taxes, you may cancel anytime by visiting Your Account and adjusting your membership settings.

"How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals" by Sy Montgomery “This is a beautiful book — essential reading for anyone who loves animals and knows how much they can teach us about being human.” ― Gwen Cooper, author of "Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat"
Pre-order today

Sponsored Products are advertisements for products sold by merchants on Amazon.com. When you click on a Sponsored Product ad, you will be taken to an Amazon detail page where you can learn more about the product and purchase it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A satisfying celebration of the ‘great romantic dream … a society that breaks free of the vicious circle of undefined productivity.’” —Publishers Weekly

“Rather than thinking of amateurs as dabblers, weekend gardeners, busying themselves with unimportant tasks, Merrifield defends the creative and political potential of doing things we love for pleasure. Amateurs take risks, seek independence, innovate by choosing a less obvious direction. By exploring the work of figures like Baudelaire, Dostoevsky, and Hannah Arendt, and their impact on his own professional life, Merrifield succeeds in highlighting the revolutionary spirit of the amateur.” —The Idler

“Erudite and engagingly written … refreshing.” —Financial Times

“Here amateurs (a word derived from the Latin ‘to love’) are non-alienated citizens; enthusiasts, who counter the mechanical expertise and technical formalism of modern society; passionate obsessives standing up for values that need defending. Merrifield, an urban theorist who writes with a brio and wit often missing in professional academics, offers an idiosyncratic canon (Dostoevsky, Jane Jacobs, Edward Said) in which he holds up amateurs as outside-the-box thinkers, inter- and post-disciplinary radicals. It’s a stirring book whose critique of contemporary work culture will be instantly recognisable. It also doubles as a moving memoir of a working-class intellectual.” —Sukdev Sandhu, Observer

“This elegant polemic is a persuasive manifesto for amateurism.”—Daily Mail

“Provides a much needed take-down of the social legitimacy and sense of virtue with which the professional class has been endowed. It’s a critique of professionalism—and an urgently needed one.” —PopMatters

About the Author

Andy Merrifield is the author of nine books. His many articles, essays and reviews have appeared in the Nation, Harper’s, Adbusters, New Left Review, Dissent, the Brooklyn Rail, and Radical Philosophy. He is a prolific writer about urbanism and social theory, with titles credited to him including The New Urban Question and Magical Marxism. He has also published three intellectual biographies, of Henri Lefebvre, Guy Debord and John Berger, as well as a popular travelogue, Dark Duct Martens Men's To Boot Toe Brown Dr Eye Lace Steel 8 Toe The Wisdom of Donkeys.

I enjoyed reading this book because the author is well read and comments on many works of literature and philosophy, mainly from an existentialist and socialist perspective. From the title and subtitle, I thought the author would provide a thoroughgoing argument for the work of amateurs in research and the economy. While he reflects on the contributions of some who were considered amateurs, such as Jane Jacobs in the fields of architecture and city planning, I expected more examples of the role and accomplishments of amateurs in society. In astronomy, for example, he doesn't mention the many amateur discoveries of comets, planets, and even galaxies. As a specific example, the comet Hale-Bopp is co-named for a passionate skywatcher who is not a professional astronomer (Mr. Bopp). Many amateurs bring a passion for their endeavors that rivals, and often significantly contributes to, the work of professionals. Amateur re-enactors of military conflicts often seem to know more about the details of battles and uniforms than professional historians. The author believes there should be more free time in society for people to avidly pursue their hobbies, rather than being a perceived cog in the wheels of full-time, alienating work. He analyzes the concept of alienation from one's authentic self. Consistent with his desire to liberate people from preoccupation with deadening work, he advocates a guaranteed income for all that would allow more part-time workers in the economy, with more time to passionately pursue their amateur adventures. While polls have shown that a minority of workers are actively engaged in their work, a counter to the author's reasoning would be that many workers, by their choice of their type of work, enjoy their jobs sufficiently well to both make a living, engage in interesting work, and have time outside of work to engage their amateur imaginations. The author does not sufficiently appreciate the dynamism of Western economies, especially the American economy, that encourages entrepreneurship and the exercise of imagination in providing goods and services; or the role that finance has in providing seed money for new ventures; or the philanthropy and job-creating investments in which many of the wealthy participate. Thus while this book is an interesting read, it would have been improved by more examples of amateurs' contributions to discoveries, and a broader appreciation of the role of financial capital in the creation of a dynamic economy.

This book is a good idea but could use some work...it has some inspirational moments and some moments that feature common sense approaches to life. It has some happy/fun stories and some head-scratching stories...this is more of an idealist's perspective than a realist's. While I agree that a fresh mind can benefit any company, no one can argue that experience also matters!

Andy Merrifield's approach to life is to simply follow your own heart and make your own path, not listen to what some "expert" has to say about living your life or succeeding in your career. But he also talks about his experiences as well as lessons he's learned from others...I somewhat relate to him. I am a freelance/go with the moment type of person, but I also like to plan when necessary...and I get advice from experts often, growing through my own experiences and through theirs!

Andy did not say anything new, but added a personable twist to the book world. While he prefers amateurs to rule the world, it's a little naive to think that inexperienced people can do a better job than folks with hands on training or education. Example: someone in their 30s couldn't run a farm better than a 13 year old who's been doing it for 7 years; someone in their 20s couldn't run a factory better than a 60 year old who's been doing it for 35 years. Where I agree with him: sometimes jobs get stale. They produce the same ideas from the same people and get the same failing results. In that case, the jobs should reach out to people with a fresh perspective. Like someone in the art world (acting, singing, painting, writing etc) has natural talent and no amount of training could make a person excel over them. So again, I agree that amateurs are beneficial but I also know that professionals matter!

Anyway, the book did not flow. It captured my interest but did not keep me interested. The chapters were okay but a little confusing at times...I'm split down the middle, so I honestly can't tell you that I recommend this or not. If you love to read, buy this book. If you are looking for an easy read, pass on this book. This book was so-so for me and I personally would not buy it for anyone else but I don't think I wasted my time reading it...

I haven't had good luck with the books of publisher Verso. It isn't their leftist politics that gets in the way, it's the insistence on turning every argument, every theory, every observation into a discussion of French philosophy. I can only handle so much Derrida. The Amateur has its share of Guy Debord and Baudelaire as well as Dostoyevsky and David Foster Wallace. But it also has real life examples and some interesting and surprisingly (for Verso) accessible ideas to toss around. Half of Andy Merrifield's argument is a slam dunk -- that "experts" have gained too much influence in our lives. The other half of the argument -- that amateurs, the people who are knowledgeable and capable but do not make a living from this knowledge and ability, are the solution to our problems -- is a bit more complicated. As a Brit, Merrifield seems to overlook the experiment that was the United States, in which amateur statesmen and politicians represent their neighbors in a government which exists for the people rather than the monarch. Of course, our little experiment has had its hiccups, but the idea seems sound. Or maybe not, there is room for debate here, obviously. Provocative and timely.

For many this book will be difficult to read and follow. You have to kind of treat each chapter as its own book and pick and choose what you need to take away from it. Overall the premise is a good one. We are inundated with "experts" in every profession when what we need is fresh blood and new innovative thinking. If you can get past the parts you don't like there are gems to be found.